Covid-19 News & Updates

[joelle]

Each province's daily domestic COVID-19 cases update in Thailand on Wednesday 18th August
FB link for reference: https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld

[Big Boy]

Today's Brief:

[PeteC]

Note: The below link will lead to the full, updated story sometime around 1500 hours this afternoon.

301 Covid fatalities, 20,902 cases

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -902-cases

[PeteC]

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Official COVID-19 update in Thailand on Thursday

* 989,859 people infected (+20,902)
* 775,327 recovered (+22,208)
* 205,946 receiving treatment
* 8,586 deaths (+301)

Number of people who received vaccines

1st dose: + 417,169
2nd dose: + 122,206
3rd dose: + 8,936
Total: 25,167,060

5,439 (-19) patients are in critical condition, with 1,168 (+13) of them on ventilators.

[PeteC]

100 Covid-19 deaths reported on Aug 18 had occurred earlier: DDC

https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/40004918

Some 100 Covid-19 deaths had not been added to the Covid-19 caseload until Wednesday because the authorities had been waiting for final autopsy results, the Department of Disease Control (DDC) said on Thursday.

Thailand’s daily caseload from Covid-19 hit a record high on Wednesday with 312 deaths and 20,515 infections.

Dr Chawetsan Namwat, the department's director for emergency health hazards and disease, explained that the 100 deaths had occurred between April and August and had not been accounted for – as in the patients had either not been hospitalized or had died from unknown causes.

Dr Chawetsan also said that most of the people in this group were over 60 and had chronic diseases or had not been fully vaccinated.

[joelle]

Each province's daily domestic COVID-19 cases update in Thailand on Thursday 19th August
FB link for reference: https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld

[PeteC]

Note: The below link will lead to the full, updated story sometime around 1500 hours this afternoon.

Covid cases top 1m

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ses-top-1m

[PeteC]

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Official COVID-19 update in Thailand on Friday

* 1,009,710 people infected (+19,851)
* 795,805 recovered (+20,478)
* 205,079 receiving treatment
* 8,826 deaths (+240)

Number of people who received vaccines

1st dose: + 651,606
2nd dose: + 201,318
3rd dose: + 7,853
Total: 25,818,666

5,388 (-51) patients are in critical condition, with 1,161 (-7) of them on ventilators.

[Big Boy]

Today's Brief:

[joelle]

Each province's daily domestic COVID-19 cases update in Thailand on Friday 20th August
FB link for reference: https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld

[HHTel]

UK’s regulator approves first drug designed specifically to tackle Covid-19

The medicines regulator has approved use of the first treatment in the UK using man-made antibodies to prevent and fight coronavirus.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said approval of the first drug designed specifically for Covid-19 in the country is “fantastic news” and he hoped it could be rolled out for patients on the NHS “as soon as possible”.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the clinical trial data they had assessed has shown Ronapreve may be used to prevent infection, treat symptoms of acute Covid-19 infection and can reduce the likelihood of being admitted to hospital due to the virus.

The drug, developed by pharmaceutical firms Regeneron and Roche is given either by injection or infusion and acts at the lining of the respiratory system where it binds tightly to the virus and prevents it from gaining access to the cells, the MHRA said.

“This is fantastic news from the independent medicines regulator and means the UK has approved its first therapeutic designed specifically for Covid-19.

“Ronapreve is the first of its kind for the treatment of Covid-19 and, after a meticulous assessment of the data by our expert scientists and clinicians, we are satisfied that this treatment is safe and effective.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavi ... li=BBoPWjQ

A promising development for treatment of Covid.

[PeteC]

I don't think we ever saw the initial 3,500 positive cases in the daily stats. Perhaps they filtered in as smaller numbers over time since they were first discovered? Anyway, chicken in quantity should be back in the stores soon.

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Clean bill of health for Phetchabun chicken plant

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... cken-plant

PHETCHABUN: All of the nearly 3,500 workers who tested positive for Covid-19 at a major chicken processing plant have tested negative following their 28-day quarantine at a field hospital, authorities said on Friday.

As a result, the factory of Golden Line Business, a subsidiary of Saha Farms Group, will resume full-scale operations on Saturday, Phetchabun governor Krit Khongmuang said.

The infections were first discovered at the factory on July 22 and tests were performed over the following four days on all 7,164 workers, said Bung Sam Phan district chief Sompong Thongnoonui.

A total of 3,481 people tested positive and were sent to a field hospital on the factory site for treatment. All tests conducted at the end of the 28-day quarantine came back negative, he said.

“All are 100% recovered. They can live their lives as normal and the factory can reopen,” said Mr Krit.

Areas around the factory are also free of the virus, the governor added.

Mr Sompong said most of the infected workers had mild symptoms and herbal drugs were mainly used for treatment.

“This cluster gives us a lesson that to manage a major cluster of infections and apply control measures during a crisis, mass testing must be quickly conducted,” he said. “Participation of local people and integrated efforts from all concerned agencies, including the factory operator, help control the situation.”

Golden Line, a producer and exporter of frozen chicken, is the largest employer of workers from Myanmar in the province.

[PeteC]

I wouldn't have a lot of confidence in this projection just yet.

Covid-19 infections 'may have peaked'

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ave-peaked

Signs have emerged that suggest Covid-19 infections are about to level off despite a doctor warning the country could see up to 400,000 new cases.

Apisamai Srirangson, an assistant spokeswoman for the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA), said there are encouraging indicators about the outbreak situation, noting that the number of new infections is no longer on a steep upward curve.

The rate of infections in Greater Bangkok is at 41% while it is at 59% in the provinces, and the trend is expected to continue, she said. However, she warned the public to keep their guard up because fully vaccinated people can still be infected.

"There are signs that the number of infections and fatalities are about to level off," Dr Apisamai said. "We hope the situation is getting better, and we must not make a mistake in this critical period."

She said the home and community isolation programme has also freed up hospital beds for Covid-19 patients with more severe symptoms and reduced wait times for critically-ill patients in the past week.

According to her, there are 70 community isolation centres in Bangkok with 9,426 beds. Of these, 14 can provide standard RT-PCR tests and seven are equipped to treat some 1,000 patients showing mild symptoms, Dr Apisamai said.

Meanwhile, Dr Kampanat Porn- yotkrai, a urologic surgeon who runs the "Sarikahappymen" Facebook page, wrote that the current Covid-19 infection wave in Thailand is already past its peak.

However, the outbreak is far from over, he said.

He said his analysis is based on the number of local infections over the past two weeks, outbreak statistics from other countries and the nature of the outbreak, which will eventually start to slow down after its saturation point.

Dr Kampanat noted that the Delta outbreak in India saw daily infections of more than 400,000 cases before rapidly slowing down. Thailand may have passed the peak at 23,000 cases recently, he said.

He said the kingdom's vaccination programme played a vital role, no matter how messy it has been. Currently, a quarter of the population, or 18 million people, have had their first shot and the vaccine administration is gearing up for up to 500,000 shots per day.

However, he pointed out that the pandemic is not over.

"The upward curve took two to three months, so it will also take two to three months on the way down," he said. "We will likely see infections drop from 19,000 to 18,000 to 17,000 until the curve is flat."

"There will be about 300,000-400,000 new infections during the downward trend," he said. "Based on statistics, fatalities will peak after two weeks, so there could be 2,000–3,000 fatalities before this wave is finally over."

[PeteC]

Note: The below link will lead to the full, updated story sometime around 1500 hours this afternoon.

261 daily Covid fatalities, 20,571 new cases reported

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... s-reported

[PeteC]

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Official COVID-19 update in Thailand on Saturday

* 1,030,281 people infected (+20,571)
* 818,964 recovered (+23,159)
* 202,230 receiving treatment
* 9,087 deaths (+261)

Number of people who received vaccines

1st dose: + 387,683
2nd dose: + 215,414
3rd dose: + 6,338
Total: 26,428,101

5,171 (-217) patients are in critical condition, with 1,123 (-38) of them on ventilators.